Perfect Theology: Discovering if the Nephilim were Giants: Sethite Theory

More time than I had wished has passed since my last blog regarding Nephilim. Apart from being inundated with work and guests, I have done much research. This topic fascinates me, and all the plausible possibilities. Thousands of years have passed since the writing of Genesis and many facets of life in antiquity have been lost.

Every culture in antiquity has legends of giants and recent discoveries of their skeletal remains are scientific proof of their existence. But were they the Nephilim?

Sethite Nephilim Theory

As I stated in my previous blog, I have found four credible explanations regarding the Nephilim. If you want to review them, please refer to my that blog. Today we will look at the “Sethite” theory. In this hypothesis regarding the Nephilim, the men were from the lineage of Seth, who was considered godly, and the women were from the lineage of Cain, who was considered wicked. The godly men took ungodly women. Their offspring were the Nephilim, who were not giants, rather mighty men.

This view is supported well in Genesis 5 and appears to be the second most popular stance on who were the Nephilim. The men of renowned were mighty kings and rulers. Psalms 82 supports this. This view also gives us a plausible answer to how our ancestors in antiquity birthed demi-gods and ancestor worship.

In the Sethite theory, it is assumed that every generation from Seth to Noah was godly. This is what made them worthy of being deemed “sons of God.” These godly men began to mix with the daughters of men, ungodly women. Their descendants began to follow after demi-gods, or false gods and fell away from righteousness. Hence, the term “Nephilim” with one of its definitions in Hebrew being “to fall away.”

Criticism Against the Sethite Nephlim Theory

Some criticism stems from the usage of the term “sons of God.” Elsewhere in the Bible the angels are called the “sons of God.” Yet other Old Testament verses refer to God calling godly men “my son” or “my children.” So, one mustn’t assume that every time the term “sons of God” is used it is referring to angels. If we take this passage in Genesis 6 in context, there is no mention of angels. In fact, from the mid section of chapter 4 onwards, the Bible is speaking of and listing righteous sons of Seth. It would be logical to consider that in this instance, the term “sons of God” refers to the lineage of Seth. We see in Genesis 4:26 that because of Seth, people looked to the Lord their God.

For certain, Enoch, from the line of Seth, was credited with righteous like none other, apart from Elijah and Moses, and was lifted up to the heavens and seen no more. We know Noah was set apart for deliverance from the wrath of God. But one of the chief arguments against the popular Sethite view is this: surely not every man in the lineage of Seth was godly. The proof is in that not all of the descendants of Seth made it to the ark. Much could be discussed relating to the 900+ years men were living and the ability Seth would have had to see generation after generation being born and to influence all of them.

Seth and His Righteous Descendants

It would probably be errant to think that, apart from the men mentioned in the list in Genesis, that the majority in Seth’s lineage were righteous. Were there enough for them to be deemed the sons of God? What about the post-flood era? With the theory that only the Sethites survived the flood, where were the next generation Nephilim from mentioned in Numbers 13?

With the Sethite view, both the sons of God and the Nephilim are completely human. The Nephilim have fallen from following God and filled the earth with wickedness. God is grieved; he destroys the spirit of the earth and its perversion that has even bled down to the animals and every living thing. The Sethite view is credible, though problematic. We will next look at an extension of the Sethite view called the “Fallen Men” view.

· Fallen Angels

Fallen angels bred with human women and their offspring were called Nephilim.

· Fallen Angels Overtook Men

Fallen angels possessed men and bred with women.

· Sethite

The men were from Seth’s line and the women from Cain’s breeding Nephilim.

· Fallen Men

Godly men took ungodly wives, and their descendants followed after the false gods.

Watch this space for more…

Written by Jori Sams

Jori Sams is a Christian author and freelance writer with nearly 2000 published pieces on the Internet, with over 1500 being published by Yahoo. Her books are published through Writeious Books. When she isn’t writing, you can usually find her following the sun…